Some excerpts from the earlier chapters on the Gita.
Those who do not have the knowledge that all actions are the result of
interaction of gunas within us and the gunas of the objects outside, are
deluded by egoism and think ?I am the doer.? The wise who have the true insight
into the respective spheres of gunas, the modes of prakrthi, and their
actions, do not get attached to their actions ?gunaa guneshu varthantha ithi
mathva na saajjathe.? Though the actions of the enlightened seem to be no
different than the others it is the attitude that differentiates them.
How to cultivate the attitude ?gunaaguneshu varthantha?? W hen one gets
anger he thinks ?I am angry? and does not say that his anger is the interplay
of rajas and thamas in him towards those outside When one learns to stand
apart and views his actions as an outsider he will be aware of the gunas, the
constituents of his body and mind, moving among those of the sense objects
outside, producing the various emotions, with which he identifies himself.
Krishna shows the way to do this ?Mayi sarvaani karmaani
sanyasyadhyaathmachethasaa niraaseernirmamao bhoothva.? ?Dedicate all your
actions to Me,? He says ?with your mind fixed on Me, the self of all, thus
freed from desire and ego, act on in the world. But the man of wisdom , having
renounced all actions by discriminative intelligence, perceiving action as
inaction sits in the body as a monarch inside a citadel with nine gates, the
nine openings of the body through which all experience is gained. The self is
the Lord of the castle with which the sage identifies himself and hence he
does no work nor he causes any work to be done, ?navadhvaare pure dhehii naiva
kurvannakaarayan.? Meaning there is no direct nor causative agency as the Self
is immutable.
The possible doubt that if the embodied self does nothing or causes nothing
to be done, who then operates both as a direct and causative agent is answered
that ?na karmaphalsamyogam svabhaavasthu pravarthath..? It is the prakrthi
constituted of the three gunas which operates as mentioned earlier ?guna
guneshu varthanta Neither the merit nor the sin accrues to the Atman, the
Self and the notion of working or enjoying or causing other to do so.
Krishna advises Arjuna to follow the path of bhakthi. He says, ?If you fix
your mind on Me alone, with all your thoughts absorbed in Me you will dwell in
Me . There is no doubt about this.? Whatever one does thinks or sees, there
should be a persistent thought flow about the Lord like the trickle of oil,
thailadharavat at the back of the mind. This is ananya bhakthi..How is this
possible. One has to discharge his duties towards his family and perform the
work assigned to him in this world by society as a householder
Whatever one does it should be done as an offering to God and the result of
the action should be renounced. This is possible only for a yathaathmavan, one
who is endowed with self control. That is, one who has given up all idea of ?I
? and ?mine. What Krishna means here is that whatever you do according to your
position on life, should be done as offering to God, ?sarvam narayanaayethi
samarpayaami.? The same attitude was stressed in stressed in the chapter of
Karmayoga but here it is not mere Karmayoga but Karmayoga coupled with bhakthi
which becomes easier.
The question that arises in the mind is that whether the renunciation of the
fruit of action is so easy or so commendable than dhyana, abhayasa and jnana.
It is definitely not that easy. But it is praised because even an ignorant man,
provided he has faith and devotion, can be induced to give up the fruit of
action as it is ingrained in the human mind that result of action is not
entirely in his control, that is, there is a many a slip between the cup and
the lip. So by giving up the fruit of action he places his trust in God and
slowly gives up his desires thinking that God knows best what is good for him
and will give it unasked. This leads him to think about God more and more and
realizes that whatever he does belongs to God. Then he tries to concentrate on
God more and more and this practice induces him to acquire knowledge and
discrimination. So the renunciation of the fruit of action finally culminates
in peace
Neither the world has any reason to be agitated by him nor is he agitated by
the world, yasmaannodhvijathe loko lokaannodhvijathe cha yah. The reason for
this is his being free from elation, intolerance, fear and agitation. and hence
he is dear to the Lord
He craves not, anapekshah, is pure, suchih, very adept in his actions at the
same time not affected, udaaseenah , not worried, gathavyathah and given up all
desire motivated actions, sarvaarambhaparithyaagi. He is not elated, has no
hatred, not aggrieved and has no desire, yo na hrshyathi na dveshti na sochathi
na kaankshathi.
He has given up both good and evil, subhaasubhaparithyaagi, because all his
actions are done as worship and he has renounced the fruit of action. Since he
is detached he is the same towards friend and foe,. honour and dishonour, cold
and warmth sukha and duhka. Therefore he treats .both contempt and praise
alike. He is silent and contented with whatever that accrues. He has no fixed
abode. For him vasudhaiva kutumbhakam. and he is sthiramatih, in other words
sthithaprajnah. ?Such a devotee,? says Krishna,? is dear to Me.? Krishna
concludes by saying that all those who are endowed with aforementioned
qualities and have faith and are engrossed in Him are exceedingly dear to Him
that is born out of jnana.
From the chapters 4and12 of the Bhagavatgita.
In Visishtadvata the Lord is the inner self of all and the jiva is in
relation to Him as a body to the soul.So the true agent is Him and not the
jiva. The actions of jiva cause agencyship to the jiva only when they are
desire motivated. A devotee acts as an instrument of God in the spirit of
Kaayena vaachaa mansendhriyairvaa buddhyaatmanaavaa prkrthersvabhaavaat karomi
yatyat sakalam parasmai naaraayanaayethi samarpayami.Jiva is the sesha,
dependent and belongs to the Lord, who is the seshi.and the aadhaara and
niyanthaa, the support and the controller. Sence of agency to jiva is not an
illusion but due to wrong identification with body mind and intellect which are
guided by ragadvesha.
K G Jagannathan <kgjagan21@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Dear Members,
The charama sloka, Bh.G 18.66 is cited as a key sloka in Sri Vaishnava
philosophy. I had a chance to browse simultaneously through the commentaries of
Sri Ramanuja, Sankara and Abhinavagupta. All three seem to concur that "a sense
of agency" should be given up while performing the actions.
I have a question, which I have not able to resolve. I hope some learned
members can throw some light on this.
If the Lord says that we must give up a sense of agency, could it mean that
the lord is all powerful and that the jIva has no power to act on it's volition
and that it's sense of agency is actually a false notion?
Related to the above question, how powerful is the jIva compared to the
brahman? Can the jIva act on it's own volition or is it completely powerless
and depends on the lord for all it's actions?
Regards,
Jagannathan
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May god bless you,
Dr. Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit.
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